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Young. Smart. Successful. From zero to hero: ‘machines’ do Exchange

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Amazing interview by Yavor. Let's read all about his experience and the important impact he has on his organization.

Yavor, tell us a little bit more about yourself.

I was born in Varna, where I had a wonderful childhood. I have been a curious kid for as long as I can remember. I studied German and English at school, and, like most kids, I had a great passion for video games, racing ones in particular. Gran Turismo, Need for Speed and German Car magazines stirred my imagination and turned me into the gear head I am today. It was this passion for cars that brought me to Sofia, where I started studying Engineering in Sofia Technical University. Back then, I had a roommate, who had a hunch for this “new thing” called IT. Together we volunteered for the University IT Team, and so we became part-time administrators. This experience showed me how interesting and challenging IT can be, so I decided to do this for a living.
 

The A-Team that gets it done!The A-Team that gets it done!

The Engineering degree gave me the foundation to build up on - the logic and analytics to solve complex problems, which turned out to be a valuable asset. I worked in a webhosting company for a couple of years afterwards, which extended my IT and customer-facing skills. Then, I decided it was time to go big, so I came to HPE. I’m 30 years old now, and I already have 10+ years in the IT business.

Yavor Tsanev, Deep Technical Support Engineer at the HPE Bulgaria siteYavor Tsanev, Deep Technical Support Engineer at the HPE Bulgaria site

How did you find out about job opportunity at HPE?

I joined HP almost 8 years ago. Back then, HP was relatively new to our market, but everybody knew they were the right place to go, if you want to have exposure to versatile technologies. A good friend of mine had recently started working at HP, so I asked him if he could refer me. HP’s employee referral program is one of the most powerful tools the company owns for attracting talents. That’s how my journey as a Windows TS has started. At first, I was intimidated by how big the customers we support are. For a small business admin, that had supported “big” environments of 5-10 servers, it was almost impossible for me to comprehend customers with 1000+ servers. This is how HPE operates – your work has a major effect on a larger scale. We are not afraid of challenges, we face them together.

How did you become a DTS?

I am currently an Exchange DTS. I’ve started my journey as a Wintel TS administrator. It was a very fortunate time to be Wintel back then, because there was no real separation of technologies, so I had the opportunity to learn and administer Windows, VMWare, Citrix, Backup, Messaging and Database, and many others all at the same time. As HPE Global Delivery Center Bulgaria started to grow, the different technologies became separated into towers, and I got the chance to become one of the first Messaging TS agents. I decided to go with Exchange, as it was the most challenging and the most versatile technology. As Exchange depends on many technologies to work flawlessly, being an Exchange admin provides you with a unique opportunity to learn a lot. When the German customers came, I had the chance to continued developing my Exchange skills and refreshed my German for another year. When the DTS opportunity came, I jumped right in. I was given the responsibility to manage over 100,000 mailboxes. This helped me gain an enormous amount of experience in a really short amount of time. Over the next few years we were able to onboard a lot of young DTS talents, who I had the chance to mentor and guide. Some of my best mentees have made it to high profile manager positions afterwards. The next big step for me was my promotion to a Delivery Lead position, whereby I developed my soft skills. With the introduction of NGDM (Next Generation Delivery Model) at HPE, I was offered the unique opportunity to be one of the first Problem Leads and prophets of the new model. This experience gave me the tools to improve my expertise, improve our working environment, and overall customer satisfaction. I have also been involved in the Automation program as one of the Pilot Automation Developers. With the help of my peers we managed to reduce case count and work load by the hundreds. With all the experience I have gathered throughout the years, I have recently joined the Messaging Academy, where I discovered my passion for teaching. People of diverse working backgrounds apply for the Academy via jobs.bg, to become Exchange specialists.

Yavor at his deskYavor at his desk

What has HPE given you?

HPE is a company which has built a corporate culture that has no equivalent on the Bulgarian market. Innovation and partnership are highly valued. Over the years, HPE has given me the amazing opportunity to attend dozens of workshops and trainings, and acquire in-depth knowledge in various technologies. I have had the chance to broaden my skills and expertise tremendously, acquiring numerous certificates. In essence, HPE has transformed me from the curious kid, with rudimentary knowledge of Windows I was, to the “multipurpose cross-platform weapon” I am today. Needless to say, all of my achievements wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for my team. Small changes, aimed at optimization that you do, can have a tremendous effect on a massive, even global scale. Ever since my fist days at the company, I’ve been striving after innovation - whether it’s a new procedure to make the job of my peers easier, a script that would save time for a certain task, or an automation rule that would reduce the number of cases, I have always had bias for action. I have also mentored my team mates - the faster you bring people up to speed and the more knowledgeable you help them become, the more added value they bring to the customer. Over the years, I have got to know a lot of people who have helped me develop and grow. I have met some of my best and closest friends in the company. I’ve even found some petrol heads like myself and together we’ve done a lot of baffling projects. Tuning, turbos, engine swaps, drift machines, you name it, we have probably had a go at it. I consider my teammates not just friends, but family.
 
What is your greatest achievement so far?
 
Over the years I have been recognized by both peers and management on multiple occasions. Last week I received an offer from my manager to join the GRRT (Global Rapid Response Team), which I consider my greatest achievement so far, as the GRRT is compiled of the best engineers from all around the world. Being considered worthy for this team is a great honor for me.
 
Did you enjoy Yavor’s story? Would you like to work with us? If you’d like to find your dream job and build a long term career in one of the best employers globally, don’t forget you can search and apply for a role on our HPE Careers website: www.hpe.com/careers.

About the author

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Yavor joined HP almost 8 years ago and progressed from Wintel TS administrator to Deep Technical Support in HPE Workplace Services team. He is proud to tell more about his career journey and how he developed himself throughout the years. You can also connect with Yavor on LinkedIn. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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DesireeCH

Employer brand and digital media evangelist. Proactively searching for new trends and best in class practices to find, converse, share, engage and refer potential candidates and bring the best Talent for the company.